The Tale of the Aunt
by theworldofbooks
Summary: What if another Potter survived on that Halloween night? A Potter who was able to outsmart even the best wizards. How would Harry's life change if he had a family who cared for him?
1. The Last Visit

The bright and sunny morning was a deception of what was about to come. The whole world was oblivious to the fact that Lord Voldemort was making final plans to his journey to Godric's Hallow. Not even James or Lily Potter could have predicted that only in a few hours, they would be dead and their only son would become one of the most famous wizards that the world have ever seen. The only two people who did know what was about to happen were Voldemort himself and Peter Pettigrew. But, this did not stop Emmeline Potter from blaming herself for the deaths of her brother, and his wife, her best friend.

At 7 o'clock, like every morning, the alarm clock went off. The sleeping person on the bed harshly smacked the alarm until the annoying buzzing went off. Grumpily, she got out of her bed. What they didn't tell you when you became an auror was that coffee would become your best friend. She greedily wrapped her fingers around the warm mug, and inhaled the coffee within seconds. Even something as simple as brining the mug to her lips made her aching arms hurt. Pushing the tears back, she recalled the events that occurred previously.

The raid last night had been a bad one. Her whole body was sore from where she had been hit by multiple curses. Two of her closest friends, Frank and Alice Longbottom, were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Their current condition was unknown, and their son Neville was now living with his grandmother. The danger was expected when you were in a war, but usually it came slowly, and not all at once.

Slowly everyone Emmeline knew was being taken away from her. The Mckinnons, a family close to the Potters, had been murdered a week earlier, and the dark mark was left above their house. Doracas Meadows was killed in a raid, three days prior. Fabian Prewett, who had been in Emmeline's year back in Hogwarts, was also killed in a raid the night before the last, his brother Gideon had just barely escaped. Back in Hogwarts, he and his brother were never apart, without Fabian, he was a total wreck. Benjy Fenwick was hit by a curse that blasted him into small pieces. Caradoc Dearborn went on a mission for Moody, but never returned. The Auror department could only guess that he had died. Alice and Frank was just the end to a "perfect" month.

Mad Eye had been working the remaining aurors into the ground. On some nights, Emmeline worked triple shifts. She was both physically and mentally drained. Not only were her brother and his family in hiding, but their parents were too. When a man by the name of Tom contacted both James and Emmeline through letter, Lisa and Henry Potter threw a fit. Tom reached out to them many more times before they realized his true identity. James was appalled by the idea of Voldemort thinking he could make the siblings switch sides. The thought had made Emmeline feel sick.

Of course, after James knew this information he did everything in his power to defeat the infamous dark wizard. This made him a target, which is why he is in hiding. Dumbledore thought it would be best if all of the Potters went into hiding. Emmeline refused this option. James would have too if Lily hadn't begged him, for Harry's sake. He finally gave into Lily's pleads and went into hiding. When Dumbledore had suggested that the Potters go into hiding, Emmeline believed that they would all be together in Potter Manor. That was not the case. Lisa and Henry hid in the Manor, but James and Lily took harry to their cottage in Godric's Hallow. Because of this, Emmeline had not seen her brother, best friend, or godson in weeks. Between her crazy auror schedule, and the constant nagging from her parents about their boredom, she couldn't find the time to make the trip down to Godric's Hallow.

When she returned to the kitchen to put her mug away, she saw her parents sitting quietly at the kitchen counter, Not wanting to disturb what looked like an intense conversation, she quietly made her way to the sink and disposed of her mug. Apparently she didn't go unnoticed because a pair of arms brought her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Henry! Let the poor girl go! If you don't she'll be late for work."

"But dear, I don't want to let my little girl go."

"Daddy," a name she hadn't said in years, "I am coming home tonight. Promise."

"Fine, fine, fine, but tell Moody that I don't want you on triple shifts anymore."

She left the kitchen smiling. Her parents could always put her in a better mood. Suddenly, she felt a tug at her navel. Apparating was something she would never get used to. Missing her aim by a few steps, she landed on half a stair, and began to slip. She felt a large hand grab her arm, and she stabilized herself. Trent Harwood was standing next to her, with a large smile on his face. "Watch yourself Missy."

"Thanks for the catch."

"No problem, but those stairs were the least of your problems. Moody is looking for you, and he looks furious."

"Oh bloody hell. That's just how I wanted to start my day."

Grunting, Emmeline stormed off to The Head Auror's office. Being called to the Head Auror's office was like being called to the Headmaster's office back at Hogwarts, something that had never happened to Emmeline. You could hear Moody yelling from all the way down the hall. Not a good sign. Wearily, she opened the door and stepped into the office. Moody's face was flush with rage. He was violently yelling at a tall figure in the opposite corner of the room. The person in the corner had a long white beard and soft, friendly eyes. Dumbledore.

"I. Um… I can come back."

"No, Potter stay. I have a mission I need you to go on. Greyback is on the loose. You and Spencer can go find him."

"Alastor," Dumbledore started to speak.

"Albus, I am working with a limited amount of people here, and I need everyone of the on duty."

"It will only be for a day. I'm sure you can spare her for the day."

"Not when she's the best damned auror in this department." Moody's retaliation made Emmeline's heart swell. Moody had called her the best auror in the department, behind himself of course. She knew she had skills, but she never knew they were that good. Even James had admitted that she was skilled with magic, and Quidditch. Not many wizards, none on record actually, have become an animagus at the age of thirteen; James had ditched her for Sirius one summer, and she thought she would experiment a little. Professor McGonagall made her Quidditch captain at the age of fourteen, and at fifteen she had won the Tri-wizard tournament.

"Please Alastor. He's going crazy, and you and I both know that I don't kid. Lily is worried about him. All he wants to do is see her."

"Fine. One day. You can have her, but only for one day."

Dumbledore grinned, and motioned for Emmeline to leave the room. If that conversation had been about her brother, that was not good. James was not the type of person who could sit in the same room day after day and be comfortable. No, James had to be active all day everyday, and he wasn't getting that being stuck in the cottage. The elderly wizard turned, and gave her one of his friendly smiles. He held out his hand to her, and waited patiently for her to take it. She took her old headmaster's hand, closed her eyes, and felt the sharp tug near her stomach. When she reopened them, they weren't in the ministry anymore, but on the front steps of her brother's familiar home. Before she could ask what they were doing there, Dumbledore had already left.

Emmeline felt excited butterflies in her stomach. She brought her knuckles to the door, and waited to be let in. Lily opened the door. The next thing Emmeline knew, Lily was crushing her in a tight embrace. Emmeline could barely breath, "Lils, please..." She was gasping for air at this point. "'I'm going… uhhhh… to need you… to let go of me." Lily apologized immediately, and let go of her sister-in-law.

Lily and Emmeline had been friends since their second and first year respectively. James had once asked Emmeline to find out why Lily hated him so much; somehow this had led to the two girls forming a friendship. Although she was his sister, Emmeline had no problem listening to Lily's rants about her wild brother, as long as she didn't say anything to James. Lily wasn't the only one of James's friends she was close with, the Marauders were like her second family; the mischievous brothers that she had never wanted. Her brother's three friends had weaseled their way into her life, and now she couldn't picture it without them. Well Remus and Peter where like brothers, Sirius was a different story.

It had been the summer after her 7th year; James and Sirius were still living at Potter Manor. For some unknown reason, James had disappeared that summer for two weeks, and her parents were on a mission. Something had just clicked between them. That had been two years ago. That whole time, they had been living a fantasy, moonlight picnics, strolls in the park; lots of dates where no one could find them. Sirius didn't want to tell James about his relationship with his sister. James could be overprotective at times, and Sirius didn't want to deal with his wrath. No one knew about their relationship, except for Remus, but that was a mistake. Since no one knew, that meant she had no one to comfort her when she broke up with him last month. Emmeline didn't want to deal with the secrets anymore, so she called it off, and she hadn't seen him since.

Lily brought Emmeline into the kitchen and began to make tea.

"So where is my egotistical brother? I heard that he's going a bit bonkers being locked up in the house."

"He's still asleep. Harry kept him up all night. I've never heard him cry like that before."

"Mind if I go up while you make the tea?" Lily nodded her head, and Emmeline started to walk up the stairs. There were four rooms upstairs, two on the left, one on the right, and one at the end of the hallway. The one on the right was Harry's bedroom. Emmeline stood in the doorway and peered into her nephew's bedroom. The blue room had a large crib in the center of it, with a broomstick mobile hanging over it. Plastered on the door was a huge Gryffindor banner. On the wall, next to the crib was a picture of Emmeline and Sirius holding Harry in the hospital. There was another picture with all four Marauders, holding Harry on his first broomstick. In the corner of the child's room, Harry's dresser was also covered in pictures. The first was a picture of Lily and James at their wedding, another one of Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James holding Emmeline up with her Tri-wizard cup. Next to that was a picture of Lily and Emmeline after graduation. Emmeline picked up the pictures and held them in her hands. She missed this; she missed the normality that she used to have.

Across the hall from Harry's room was the guest room, pretty much made form Emmeline. She had helped pick out all of the decorations, and pretty much made the room her own. A place for her away from home. Another guest room was next to Emmeline's. That room was made specifically for the Marauders. It said so on the door, _For Marauders Only. _ Emmeline made her way to James and Lily's room. There he was, on the bed, with Harry lying on his chest. Emmeline missed him more than she wanted to admit. Growing up together, you would have never guessed that Emmeline and James were related. Emmeline had green eyes and curly, dirty brown hair. Unlike his younger sister, James had unruly black hair that would never stay down no matter how much gel was in it. Although they looked different, their personalities were somewhat similar. Both Potter children were at the top of their classes, but Emmeline studied, not like her brother. They were both fierce, and protective friends.

Emmeline quickly transfigured herself, and stood with her face barely an inch away from her brother's. Harry wasn't awake yet, so she quietly picked her sleeping nephew up and cradled him in her arms. With Harry secure in her arms, she proceeded with her attempt to give her brother a heart attack. She tapped James a few time on the shoulder until he tried to swat her away. "Lily, go away, let me sleep." Emmeline decided to take control of the situation and turn it into her favor. She brought Harry to his room, and placed sleeping baby into his crib. Rapidly, she transfigured herself again, to make herself look like Claire Drake, one of James' ex-girlfriends.

She went back to her brother's room, and placed a silencing charm on it, so James's screams wouldn't wake Harry up. What she was about to do might scar her for life, but it would be worth it. Again, she went to wake her brother up. Shaking his shoulder, James grumbled again. "Lils, love, let me sleep, please." Stifling a laugh, Emmeline clamped a hand over her mouth. " James," she said in what was supposed to be a sexy voice, "It's not Lily." That caused James to wake up. He opened his eyes slightly, as if he didn't believe "Claire". When he saw that it was indeed, not Lily in their bedroom, James shot straight up and tried to wrap his bed-sheets around him, as if he was trying to cover himself up. He made some kind of strangled noise that came from the back of his throat, and fell of the bed.

"Claire! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember last night?" Emmeline had no idea what she was saying. She was kind of making it up as she went.

"Last night?"

"Well you called me up, told me to come over, so I did."

"You're joking. Dear Merlin, what the bloody happened. I don't even remember being drunk!" James was turning an odd shade of green. Emmeline would have felt bad if the situation hadn't been so funny. She decided to end her brother's misery before they both threw up.

"Oh Jamsie, you are so easy to toy with." Only one person called him Jamsie, his mother, and only three people knew about that nickname, his father, Sirius, and Emmeline.

"Merlin Emmeline, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He pushed himself off of the ground while Emmeline transfigured herself back to normal. The shocked expression on her brother's face was worth the nightmares she would have in nights to come. He flopped down onto the bed, with a pout; he looked like a little kid, who was upset that he couldn't have a cookie before dinner. "James, stop sulking. I know you're glad to see me."

This was the first time she saw him smile since she had arrived. He got off the bed and pulled Emmeline into one of his famous James hugs. As a kid, even now, James' hugs could pull her out of any mood, and put her in a better one. His hug made her safe, and for a moment she was able to forget about all of the bad things that were going on in her life. When he ended the hug, her disappointment was clearly etched on her face. James was immediately worried. Now that he actually looked at her, Emmeline looked exhausted. Dark black bags hung under her eyes, her green eyes, which used to shine, were now dull and cloudy. It looked as if she hadn't brushed her hair for days, and her hands were scarred with old cuts, but there was also a trace of red on them, which meant that there were also new cuts.

"What happened?"

"James, don't do this to yourself. Nothing is going to change what happened. It will only make you feel worse." Emmeline knew her brother well enough to know that if he heard bad news now, he would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the week.

"Well, if I ever get out of here, I'm going to need to know which one of my friends are dead because they were out fighting, while I was in here hiding."

"James-"

"Just tell me!"

"The McKinnons, all of them, Doracas Meadows, Fabian Prewett, Caradoc Dearborn, Benjy Fenwick, and" She couldn't do it. James was just as close to Frank as Emmeline was to Alice. It would crush him.

"And who else." It wasn't James who had asked, but Lily. Neither Emmeline nor James had heard the crying baby that caused Lily to come upstairs. The redhead was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, holding a now calmer Harry in her arms. Lily was also a friend of the Longbottoms; Emmeline couldn't break her heart too.

"Last night, there was another attack. Moody assigned six people to the mission. Trent Hemmingway, Emeline Vance, Edgar Bones, Me and," she stopped talking. Emmeline didn't want to be the one to tell them that their friends are in a coma for who knows how long. Not even magic could fix them. "And the Longbottoms." Lily gasped when she said this. Her legs began to shake, and strangled noises began to escape her throat. James walked over to her and took Harry from her arms. He guided her over to the bed before she passed out. "They're not dead," Emmeline began to explain, "Bellatrix used the cruciatus curse on them both last night. You and I both know that one person can only take so much of that before you start slipping away. They didn't die, but they're in St. Mungos right now, and Addison says thy aren't very stable." Addison Orthro was a Ravenclaw in Lily and James' year back in Hogwarts. She was one of Lily's close friends, and a healer at St. Mungos. Addison was sending Emmeline hourly owls to keep her updated on the Longbottom situation.

Surprisingly, Lily was able to comprehend what Emmeline said faster than James. "And Neville? Where's Neville." This was Lily's maternal side taking over. She could be scary when someone tried to hurt Harry. "Neville is staying with Frank's mother right now. I'm going over there later to drop some clothes off." All Lily could do was nod her head. The smiling baby in her brother's lap was the only thing keeping Emmeline from crying. Harry began to giggle, which caused Emmeline to smile. "Why don't I take Harry, you guys go get changed, or go back to sleep? I'll even make us some breakfast. And James, take a shower, you smell."

As she walked down the hallway, she could hear laughter coming out of her brother's room. She put Harry down on his play-matt, and went through all of his drawers looking for something he could wear. At the bottom of the drawer she found a onesie that she had bought Harry for his first birthday. It had red and gold stripes on it, and on the back it read _future Gryffindor Quidditch Captain._ She, James, and Sirius had a bet going. James bet that Harry would be chaser, Sirius thought that he would be a beater, and Emmeline bet seeker, like her. She had been on the team since first year, and became captain in her 4th year. Emmeline took the onesie over to Harry, and he started to clap. She figured it meant that he approved, so she changed him, then brought him downstairs. She rummaged through the fridge, and then realized that Lily and James could not go food shopping, and no one had done it for them in a while. Lily's owl, Cinder, was sitting in her cage. Emmeline quickly wrote a note to Remus asking him to bring some groceries over when he stopped by later that day. She knew he was coming over because she had told her two days earlier.

Harry was getting irritated by the lack of attention, and began to cry. Emmeline was brought out of her thoughts, by the screaming baby, and took him out of his high chair. She placed him on the carpet in the living room, and then went to the hall closet, to get his broom. Sirius had given Harry his first broom for his birthday, it only hovered two feet in the air, but it was enough to give Lily a heart attack. Emmeline walked back to the living room, with the broom in her hand, and placed it down next to Harry. She gave Harry her hands, and he pushed himself up into a standing position. Then she helped him swing his legs over the broom, and he sat down. As soon as he touched the broom, he shot up two feet in the air. At this point, the boy was better at walking than he was at flying.

Emmeline could hear the shower running, which was a good sign. Being James' sister, she knew that James always calmed down after he took a shower. In an odd way, that where he did his best thinking. Harry's miniature broom had a string attached to the front of it, so that Emmeline could pull him around the house. She made sure not to go to fast, because if he fell off, Emmeline would be a dead person. There was a knock on the door, so the two of them made their way over to it. When Emmeline opened the door, Remus Lupin appeared behind it. He stood on the steps bearing bags of fruits, vegetables, and potato chips (for James of course).

"Hey," Remus said to Emmeline, as he hugged her before he came in. 'Mmmh, you brought food. What do you want me to make?"

"Waffles!" Remus shouted. He helped Harry get off of his broom before Harry began to shout at "Reme." Everyone had been jealous that "Emme" was the first thing he said, not mom not dad, but Emmeline's name. Of course, this made Remus and Sirius try to shorten their names so that Harry would be able to say them. This made James protest, he had said something about how he had given Harry life and it should have been his name that Harry should say first.

Emmeline went to the kitchen, put away the groceries that Remus brought, and then took out supplies so that she could start making waffles. She had just put the batter into the waffle machine when the doorbell rang again. "Reme, will you get it?"

"I have a small one year old on my back, I'm a bit busy," he called from the den.

"I'll get it," called James, who was running down the stairs while buttoning his shirt. He was still on the stairs when the banging on the door grew louder. "PRONGS OPEN THIS DOOR BEOFRE I BREAK IT DOWN!"

Emmeline almost dropped the plate she was holding. Sirius. They hadn't talked since the breakup. Emmeline didn't have to be near the door to know that two Marauders had just walked in. As far as Emmeline knew, this was the first time that all the Marauders had been together in three months. She ignored her urge to run away and hide in the closet, and instead continued to make waffles. She had about 10 finished, but since all four Marauders were there, she knew that 10 wouldn't be enough. Luckily, for her, Peter was the only one who went into the kitchen. Form her guess; Peter and Sirius had just come back this morning from their Order Mission. Judging by his looks it didn't go to well. Peter had always been a chubby boy, but recently he had lost a lot of weight, so much that his clothes didn't even fit properly. The bags that had always been under his eyes grew darker, and he was always nervous, more so than usual.

"Waffles? There's syrup in the pantry." She didn't wait to hear his response, because she walked over to the living room. It was now or never, and she had fought at least 30 dark wizards, she could handle her ex boyfriend. Lily had come down without her knowing, and she was yelling at Sirius for letting Harry fly too high. James was lying on the floor with his arms over his chest, laughing at something that Remus had said. The first person to notice her was Sirius. When she looked into her eyes, something started to tug in her chest, and it felt like she had just run into a brick wall. "There are waffles in the kitchen. I made enough so that you guys could have six each so eat up."

James sprung up off of the floor, and picked up his sister. He swung her around as she hit him in the back. "Em, you truly are the best." Before she could even say anything, Sirius and James had already run to the kitchen. "Merlin Wormtail, would you share some of those waffles with the rest of us?!" Sirius' screeching could be heard from the living room.

"Those savages." Lily and Emmeline couldn't help but laugh at Remus' remark.

"Remus, I swear that you're the only normal one in that lot."

"Emmeline, you're only figuring this out now?"

They walked over to the kitchen where Peter, James, and Sirius were devouring waffles. The Marauders were pretty content eating their waffles, but Lily was struggling putting Harry into his high chair. Emmeline, who had already eaten, took Harry from his mother, and brought him into the playroom. The playroom had been designed by none other than Maia Potter. When she heard that she was going to become a grandmother, she went a little overboard-buying presents for her grandson. Inside the room, Harry had every toy he could ever want.

Emmeline sat down after she shut the door, and let Harry bring the toys to her. At first they played with the puzzles, then his hippogriff toy. The next time she glanced at the clock, it read 10:42. She had been in the room with Harry for twenty minutes, and although she thought it was impossible, he was starting to get bored. The noise coming from the kitchen told her that breakfast was not yet finished. She mumbled a spell, and bubbles began to spring out of her wand. Harry, immediately noticing the bubbles, ran around the room, trying to catch them. The door opened behind Emmeline, and Harry ran over to the figure in the doorway.

"Hey buddy, how are you?" Sirius asked the baby. The only response Harry gave was a few claps, and a tug to Sirius' hair. "If you want," he started to say, "I can take over Harry duty." Emmeline didn't fail to notice that while Sirius was talking, he never looked at her. This is what their relationship had come to. Emmeline didn't even know if they were still friends.

"I still want to be."

"What?"

"You asked me if we were still friends."

"I did?"

"Yeah, just because we aren't, you know, together anymore, doesn't mean that I want to stop being your friend. This time, when he spoke, he was actually looking at her.

"Good, because that's what I want too."

They stared at each other, and both of them could feel the room become more awkward with each minute. When she had pictured her life with Sirius in it, this was not what Emmeline has pictured. She left Sirius in the playroom with Harry, and walked into the kitchen, where Lily was doing the dishes. Lily was angrily making grunting noises at the dishes since the sticky syrup would refuse to come off. At the table, Peter, Remus and James were having what looked like a serious conversation, well Sirius for the Marauders.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there with you the other night Moony. You know that I would have been there if I could." Emmeline knew that her brother felt awful about the fact that he couldn't be with Remus on the full moon. She knew that after she had started making the wolfsbane potion for her furry friend, the Marauders had started spending the full moon with her; at least that's what they told her.

Back in their Hogwarts days, Sirius had played a life threatening prank on Severus Snape, which turned out not to be too funny. Severus was upset, and wanted revenge. Who better to mess with than one of the Marauder's very own? He had left a note on Emmeline's trunk telling her that Spencer Wilkins wanted to meet her at the Shrieking Shack, and how to get into there. That night just happened to be the full moon. When she went to the Shrieking Shack, she was met with a very frantic looking Remus. She couldn't understand why until he began his transformation. Knowing that a werewolf's bite would only influence a human, she quickly transfigured herself into her animagus form. It wasn't easy galloping out of the tunnel as it was getting in, but she tried her best. After that moment, she didn't pity Remus, but admired him. From that moment on, Emmeline had made the wolfsbane potion for him, which allowed Remus to be sane while he was in his wolf form. As far as she knew, her brother and his friends stayed humans during the full moons.

"Well I know that I'm not James, Peter, or Sirius, but I think we had a good time, right?" She asked Remus.

"I think you were just as great as they were."

"WHAT?!" James and Sirius yelled at the same time, both for different reasons.

"You were with Emmeline on the full moon?"

"You think she's better than us?"

Remus looked so uncomfortable, that Emmeline actually pitied him. "What's the big deal?" She couldn't understand why her brother was so upset. At first she had thought it was jealousy, but the fire in his eyes told her that it was much more. Emmeline couldn't believe that his brother was being so shallow; Remus must have been feeling awful.

"What if the potion didn't work? What if something bad happened? No offense to Moony or anything, but Emmeline come on!"

"Merlin James! You are such a hypocrite. I know that you spend the full moons with Remus so why can't I? I'm not 11 anymore, incase you haven't noticed I've grown up."

"James-" Remus started to say.

"Not now Moony, she needs to know the danger-"

"You think I don't know what its like to be in danger?

"That's not what I said. You can't go and put yourself in a dangerous situation."

"So you think that Remus is dangerous?"

"Hey! I never said-"

"JAMES! Would you just listen for a second?" This shut everyone up. From time to time, Remus would get angry, but he would never yell. "You think that if I thought I was dangerous, I would let Emmeline stay with me?" Before James could even answer, Remus began again. "James she's not only your sister, but she's ours too. Of course I wouldn't put her in danger. I know that there's a possibility that the potion could malfunction, so that's why I declined her offer. But, when she came to me as a horse, there was no way to get out of it."

"Wow Remus, way to make me feel loved."

"You know I love you, we all do, that's why we want what's best for you. But James, Emmeline's right, she isn't 11 anymore. I hate to say it mate, but she's even more brilliant that all of us combined, she could take us all on right now, and beat us without an effort."

"Hold up," Sirius called, "Moony, did you say she came to you as a horse?"

"Well what else would I have gone to him as, a dog?"

"You're an animagus?" both James and Sirius said in shock. Emmeline just loved how much her brother has paid attention in the last 6 years. Emmeline remembered when she had told James about her animagus transformation, she was so excited. James on the other hand, couldn't care any less. He was with Sirius, which meant that Emmeline was no longer important.

"How could you not know that you're sister is an animagus. She showed us her certificate." Remus was always Emmeline's favorite.

"Remus, you were always my favorite," she said flashing him a smile.

"When did you become an animagus?" Sirius said, as if he was jealous.

" Third Year", she said proudly.

"THIRD YEAR! Merlin's beard. How the bloody hell did you manage that?" This time it was James in shock instead of Sirius.

"Well I have you two gits to thank for that. Over the Christmas holiday, you two were off planning pranks, and not so subtly I might add, left me to fend for myself in an empty house. I got bored, and was up for a challenge. Becoming an animagus was what I decided."

"You became an animagus in… in a week?" Now it was Remus' turn to be shocked. Just like Remus, her parents were very skeptical when she asked to go to the Ministry and fill out the paper work to become an official animagus. Becoming an animagus takes years to master, so she understood why her parents were skeptical.

"Moony you were right, my sister is a bloody genius." The fight earlier was now forgotten. Emmeline began to explain how she became an animagus. She didn't realize that while she was talking, there was another conversation going on.

"Prongs," Sirius whispered discretely to James, " you git, if you actually had listened to your sister, becoming an animagus would have been so much easier."

"Shut it Padfoot."

Before they knew it, they had started reminiscing about the old day. The time where there was no war to be fought, when none of their friends were dying, when they could go outside and not worry about dark wizards trying to kill them. Life was so much easier back then. She missed those carefree days, they all did. Lily came back into the room carrying, a sleepy looking Harry. It was already 1 o'clock, and the poor baby had been up since 7:30. Harry just reflected what Emmeline was feeling on the inside. She was exhausted.

"James do you think you could put Harry down for a nap?" James took Harry from Lily's arms and started towards the stairs. When he was halfway up the stairs, Emmeline offered to help put Harry down. She wanted to spend all the time she could with her family, because she didn't know the next time she would see them. As quietly as she could, Emmeline walked up the stairs up to Harry's room. She stood in the hallway, leaning against the door. In this moment, it was almost as if there was no wrong in the world. James putting Harry to sleep did something to Emmeline. Out of nowhere, she could feel tears streaming down her face. James was slowly rocking Harry to sleep, then gently put him into his crib. Emmeline had the throw her hand over her mouth to stop the sob from escaping her mouth.

She couldn't understand what was going on. Something about this whole situation was pulling on her heartstrings. When James finally turned around, she was full on crying. Not even waiting to ask what happened, James rushed over to his sister and pulled her into a hug. Now, she couldn't even stop the sobs from coming out. Emmeline was sure that everyone downstairs could hear her, but she couldn't stop the tears from coming. All James could do was stand there and rub his sister's back. He was never good with comforting someone when they were upset, he didn't even know why she was upset.

Emmeline and James stood in the doorway for a while. James was getting panicked. He wished that Lily was the one up here instead of him. He didn't know how to help his sister; all he knew was that she was making him feel awful.

"Emmeline, shhh its okay, we're okay, you're okay."

"No… no I'm not okay. This is not okay."

"Shhh, what are we talking about?"

"Everything is falling apart. Everyone is dying, I can't stand it." After she said this, Emmeline and James could hear the footsteps coming towards them. She didn't want anyone else to see her like this, but she couldn't stop. The next thing she knew, four other people had wrapped their arms around her. No matter how different they all where, this was her family. The werewolf, the perverted genius, the meek chubby boy, the red head with the temper, and her brother with untamable hair, this was her family and she wouldn't have it any other way. Emmeline had finally gotten her sobs under control and pried her arms out of the hug so she could wipe the tears from her face.

"Alright you guys, I'm fine. I won't be in a few minutes if you don't let me breathe."

They all left the room before they could give Harry a chance to wake up. Emmeline went to the bathroom to wipe her face, and the others went to the living room. The tension in the room had risen to a high, all the five friends could do was sit and stare at each other.

"Would someone like to tell me what was going on upstairs," Sirius asked. This was the question that was on everyone's mind. It was not like Emmeline to break down, especially in front of other people. This made them all nervous.

"I don't know. One minute I was putting Harry down for a nap, and the next thing I knew she was standing in the doorway crying." James had to sallow the lump in his throat before saying this. He felt awful. The only thing worse than seeing Lily and Harry in pain, was seeing his sister in pain. Despite all of their fights, he still loved her.

" James, I'm worried. We pretty much lived together for seven years, and out of all of those years, I have never once seen her cry."

"Same here mate. I've known her for a long time, and she's never cried before," Sirius said.

"We talked the other night. She's told me what's happened on these raids. I think the stress of all of them is finally getting to her. Emmeline is tough, but she can only take so much. For the past few months, she has had to watch her friends die in front of her. That's going to be hard on anyone."

"The more you care, the more you have to lose." No one had noticed Emmeline coming into the room. " You guys are right, it's hard watching the people you love die, and lately, I've been doing it a lot. I'm sorry; I guess I just snapped up there. I've been fighting this war, and the whole time I kept telling myself that I'm helping to make our world a better place. When I went upstairs, I realized that I'm not just fighting to make the world better for other, but for my family. I'm fighting so that sleeping baby upstairs, can have a better life, so that he doesn't have to grow up in a bad place."

"I couldn't have said it better myself Em." When he wasn't being a perverted prankster, Sirius could actually be sweet. Their moment was interrupted by Harry, who had finally woken up. "Lils, do you mind if I get him?"

"Go ahead Sirius."

Sirius left the room, and things became awkward again. "Well I'm starving so how about some dinner?"

"James, we ate five hours ago." Emmeline swore that Remus was the only levelheaded one of the Marauders.

"Exactly, that was five hours ago."

"If you guys want food," Lily said, "You are going to have to cook dinner yourself."

"Sure love, anything you have in mind?" James cheekily asked his wife.

"Surprise us."

The Marauders scurried into the kitchen. As soon as they were out of sight, Sirius re-entered the living room with a smiling Harry. Lily stretched her arms out, and her baby boy was placed into her arms, where he belonged. Knowing that the Marauders were capable of destruction, Emmeline offered to help out in the kitchen, to witch Lily hastily agreed to. Two minutes they had been there, and already all hell had broken loose. Flour was all over the cabinets, and sugar was scattered all over Lily's pristine floors. Peter was hiding between the refrigerator, and the counter. He looked like he was fighting off a charmed whisk. Sirius and James on the other hand were involved in a full-blown food fight, which even included the classic tactic of throwing eggs in your opponent's hair.

"Oi! Prongs! Where is the chocolate?" Sirius called out. Apparently they were skipping dinner, and going straight to dessert.

"Padfoot, why would need chocolate?"

"You git, how else would we make chocolate cake?"

"Is that what we're making? I thought we were making pancakes?"

"Accio chocolate." The chocolate powder landed in Emmeline's hands, and she tossed it over to James. Before he could even ask, "And yes, I do know how to clean this up, but I figured you're just going to mess it up again, so I'll clean later."

Emmeline walked over the kitchen counter, and plopped down next to Remus. He picked up his second spoon, and handed it to her. She grabbed the jar in front of him, and scooped herself a large spoonful of vanilla icing. "Mmmmh, that's good." All Remus could do was nod his head in agreement. Just as she was reaching to get another spoonful, a glass of water was flung towards her. "Protego," she muttered the incantation, putting up a shield, which protected Remus and herself from the flying water.

The cup of water was just the ammunition they needed to get a food fight started. Remus and Emmeline versus Sirius, Peter, and James. Spoon-fulls of chocolate batter were being flung onto the walls, while sugar coated the countertops. As Sirius was getting ready to throw more batter, a very agitated redhead walked into the disastrous kitchen. "What the bloody hell is going on in my kitchen?"

Lily abruptly walking in didn't stop Sirius from flinging chocolate in her direction. The chocolate hit Lily in the face before she even had the time to react. "OH! ITS ON!" Harry protested when Lily tried to put him down, so she handed him of to Emmeline. Forgetting about the spoons, Lily used her hands to fling chocolate at her husband. Even Harry wanted to be involved, and accidently threw a spoon at Peter's head.

Before they knew it, they had been fighting for two hours. 'Merlin is it really 7 o'clock?" Emmeline cried, she was supposed to go to the Longbottoms' house so she could bring clothes to Augusta.

"Yeah, I guess it is," replied Remus.

"Scourgify." At the wave of her wand, Lily had cleaned the entire kitchen, and everyone inside of it. The walls were once again white, instead of the tan shade they had been minutes earlier, and the floors were sugar free.

"I have to get going," Emmeline said. She walked towards Lily, and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Em, please be careful."

She let go of her friend, and smiled at her, "Don't worry about me Lils. I promise, I will be fine. All you have to worry about is James becoming stir crazy."

Giving a quick hug to each Marauder, Sirius' being the most awkward, she kissed Harry on the cheek, and then walked over to her brother. It was James, not Emmeline, who initiated their hug. Not wanting to let go, Emmeline hugged James even tighter. "Promise that you'll write more often, my owl obviously can never find your house." James laughed and promised that he would indeed write to her. Emmeline jogged over to the living room and grabbed her cloak. Before she left, Remus reminded her that he would be stopping by Potter Manor later.

Emmeline left Godric's Hallow, unknowingly saying goodbye to her family for the last time.


	2. When the prisoner arrives

A/N: So this is my first chapter fanfic, and I hope you like it so far. About the time between updates, there are no specific dates that I'll be updating (if you even care). But as a high school student, unfortunately I'm swamped with work. So anyway I hope you like this chapter

Disclaimer: I unfortunately am not the perfect J.K. Rowling- if I was Fred, Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily would still be alive

After quickly raiding Neville's room for clothes, Emmeline appeared on Augusta's doorstep with two bags in hand. Her house elf, Kipper, let Emmeline into the foyer. Even for someone who lives in Potter Manor, Emmeline had to admit that the Longbottom Estate was pretty impressive. The room she was standing in was at least 15 feet high, and paneled with wood. A massive fireplace stood next to the very colorful painting of Augusta's family above it. Emmeline could feel Augusta slide next to her.

"Being an auror was the last thing I wanted for him. He was my baby. He is my baby." Augusta Longbottom was not a woman to be messed with, and the entire wizarding community knew it. The fact that she was standing there, pouring her emotions out to Emmeline was making her feel uncomfortable.

"They'll be okay, Mrs. Longbottom. Addison told Remus and I that if any changes happen she would send an owl."

The elderly woman looked even older that usual. Her hair that was usually in a severe bun had loose hairs sticking out all over the place. Augusta led Emmeline up the long staircase, to where her grandson was now currently living. There had always been a room for Neville in her house for the rare occasions where Alice and Frank needed a night off. She loved Neville with all her heart, but Neville was her grandson, and she was much too old to be raising a baby.

"Hey Neville, how you doing?" Emmeline picked up the baby, and cradled him in her arms. Neville instantly latched onto her hair, and started tugging. Emmeline swung Neville into the air, and he began to giggle. Although she loved her grandson, these were the types of things that she could never do with him. If she had been the one to swing Neville in the air, her arms probably would have buckled halfway in the air. Her husband, Miller, would have been better at raising another baby at their age.

She was so lost in thought, that she hadn't even heard Emmeline calling her. "Mrs. Longbottom, Mrs. Longbottom? Where would you like me to put his bags?" Augusta pointed towards the dark wooden dresser. After putting the bags away, Emmeline again swung Neville in the air. The squealing baby started to gag, and threw up on Emmeline's robes. "I think that's enough flying for you today little man, at least until we get you a broom."

"Oh goodness, a broom for a baby!"

"Yeah, they're actually quite popular. Sirius got one for Harry for his birthday."

Augusta could only imagine all the ways Neville would be hurting himself on the broom. She loved her grandson dearly, but even she had to admit that he was a klutz.

"Scourgify," Emmeline said, and the vomit was instantly cleaned off her robes.

"I'm sorry about that dear." Augusta said to Emmeline.

"Oh, its no big deal. These robes need a good cleaning anyway. I better get going, its already 7:30."

"Of course, Kipper will show you out." Emmeline's heart went out to the older woman. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her, a year prior, her husband died, and now her son was being taken away from her.

"They'll be okay." All Augusta could do was nod in response.

Kipper showed Emmeline the way to the door, and she let herself out. Remus had told her that he was coming over at 8:45, so she still had time to spare. Thinking of no better way to spend her time, she went to go visit her friends at St. Mungos. Quickly apparating, Emmeline appeared in the lobby. She had always hated hospitals. They were always so clean, and white, they made her feel like she was an experiment rather than a patient.

Gwenog Jones was sitting in the waiting area, yelling at one of the healers. "What do you mean I have to wait an hour before a healer can see me? I need to get back on the field!"

"Miss Jones, please, you just fell off your broom. From a very considerably high height I may add. Please just wait until a healer can see you." Emmeline could tell that the assistant healer was barely keeping her cool; there was fire behind her eyes.

"Hey Gwenog! What are you doing here?" Hestia and Emmeline knew each other from back in their Hogwarts days. Gwenog was two years younger than Emmeline and she was in Hufflepuff, but they were prefects at the same time.

"I fell off my broom at practice today, and coach won't let me back until I get examined by a healer." Knowing Gwenog, it must be killing her to be missing practice.

Emmeline turned to the assistant healer, "Do you think you could get Addison Drake for me? My name is Emmeline Potter, if you could just tell her that I'm here, that would be great." The assistant healer looked as if she was relieved, and she walked away. Turning to Gwenog, Emmeline said, "Luckily for you, I've got my connections. I'm sure we can have you back on the pitch in no time."

"You are bloody fantastic! I've been waiting here for the last hour, and all they told me to do was wait for another hour." The two girls sat down in the waiting area and began catching up. The truth was that they haven't seen each other since Emmeline left Hogwarts three years ago. So much was going on now that it was hard to keep in touch was old friends. Right then was when Emmeline promised herself that when the war ended, she would contact every single person she knew from Hogwarts.

The very cheerful Addison Drake walked down the hallway looking not so cheerful. Since the beginning of their friendship, Addison was always the happier one between the two of them. Not seeing her smiling was something new for Emmeline, and she didn't like it. The makeup, which she used to put on so carefully, was smudged all around her eyes, and her hair was frazzled, just like her energy level, Emmeline was sure of this.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Gwenog here fell off her broom, and she needs to be seen by a healer." Emmeline nodded in Gwenog's direction.

"Sure, I'll get Paige, we can have her on her way in 15 minutes. So why are you here?"

"We can talk after you get Paige, Gwenog is getting a tad antsy." Addison laughed and walked down the hallway. Emmeline walked back over to Gwenog and told her about Paige coming to the rescue. Addison came back with Paige, and she brought Gwenog over to the examination room.

"So what's up with you? You hate Mungos."

"Thanks for pointing that out, how are Frank and Alice?"

"Still in a coma. But for now, they're stable. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, for now. Moody's assigning me a new partner tomorrow."

"I thought you were working with Roger."

"That sissy couldn't handle me for longer than two weeks. He asked to be transferred yesterday. Prat."

"You know you haven't had a partner last more than three weeks since James?"

"Thanks captain obvious. I've realized that. Can I see them?"

"Normally, I'm all for breaking the rules, but sorry not today. Their rooms are on strict lock down. Healers only."

"Ugghh, why must you choose now to be good? Anyway, I'm going to go then, Remus will be at my house in twenty minutes."

" Remus? I thought you were still getting over Sirius." Emmeline and Addison told each other everything, and her relationship with Sirius was no different. Besides herself and Sirius, Remus and Addison were the only ones who knew about the secret relationship. The only reason Remus found out was because he caught the two of them making out in their apartment. The one time Remus decides to actually come home early, he finds the two of them on Sirius's couch.

"Hardy har har, you are bloody hilarious. Now, I have to get going. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Dude, its Halloween. Do you know how many people we get in here on Halloween night?"

"Alright, but you are not getting out of Thursday night drinks with the Marauders at Hogsmede."

"Okay, get out of here crazy."

By the time Emmeline was back home, the sky was dark and the moon was bright. Remus was sitting on her stoop waiting for her. He didn't realize she was standing there, and she just wanted to watch him for a while. He looked so happy, and she was glad that if any of them were going to be happy, it was Remus. He was lying on his back looking at the stars above him.

All he could focus on was the quietness. Remus loved that Potter Manor was so quiet at night; he was never able to get that at his flat in London. It was amazing. Mrs. Potter had asked him to come in earlier, but he told her that he would prefer to wait for Emmeline outside. With everything going on in his life right now, he was enjoying the quietness. The next thing he knew, Emmeline was lying down on stoop next to him. She put her head on his shoulder in a completely platonic way.

"Do you ever miss it?" Emmeline asked him.

"Miss what?"

"The normality of everything."

"Of course, but this is my life now, and I had to get used to it."

She got up, and stretched her hand out for Remus. He grabbed it, and with a grunt, pulled himself up. She grabbed her keys out her robes and let herself into her house.

"Let me get changed, and I'll get us some drinks." Remus threw down his jacket, while Emmeline went to her room. After rummaging through some drawers, Emmeline finally found a pair of clean pajamas, and quickly threw them on. She tied her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. She walked down the hallway to her parents' room, like she did every night. It comforted to know that her parents were home safe. She remembers the countless nights that she spent in James's room wondering when their parents would come home; if they would come home. Tip-toeing down the stairs, Emmeline saw Remus lying down on her couch.

"You're shoes better be off, or my mother will not hesitate to kill you." Remus started laughing, and kicked off his shoes. Emmeline went to the kitchen, and pulled out a beer for Remus, and a butterbeer for herself. She was never much of a drinker, even when she went to the bars with the Marauders. She handed Remus the beer, and sat down next to him.

"Why is it that the past three times that I've come over here, I'm the one getting drunk and you stay sober?"

"If I go to work tomorrow with a hangover Moody will curse me into oblivion."

"No he won't, he can't afford to loose another auror."

"Make me feel loved Moony, why don't you?" she said while hitting him with her pillow. He put his hands up in an act to surrender. They sat there drinking their beers, and staring out the window. It wasn't an awkward silence; it was rather comfortable. They spent many nights in the library together, studying in silence, they were used to this. Her neck was getting stiff while it was lying on the couch arm, so she put a pillow on Remus's lap and lay down. She put her butterbeer on the ground, and Remus gave her, his to put on the floor. He put his hands in her hair and started to play with it, and again, in a purely platonic way.

"So, what happened with you and Sirius?" Emmeline immediately stiffened. That was one thing she didn't want to talk about. Although they were "friends" now, things were said that night, that most people wouldn't exactly call friendly. "Well, if you're not going to answer, I'm going to have to paint the picture with what Sirius told me."

"What did Sirius tell you?"

"Emmeline, if you have forgotten, this is a Marauder you are talking to. We don't spill our guts without getting the dirt on someone else first."

"Please tell me you did not say that."

"I think I did." Remus said, cringing. He was by far, her favorite Marauder. "Well thank you, I like you very much too."

"Dammit! I need to stop thinking out loud." Emmeline rolled off her side, and onto her back. She looked up and smiled at him. "Thanks."

"For what?" He said brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Being an awesome friend. So what did he tell you?"

"I'll spill mine when you spill yours."

"Fine. We broke up. I was tired of all the sneaking around. Don't get me wrong, he was perfect; is perfect, but I can't deal with it anymore. Unfortunately, my head is talking to me more than my heart. You know what the worst part of this is? I think I was in love with him."

"What?"

"I'm in love with him Remus. I love him. Breaking up with him, was like pulling my own heart out. They say that if you love something you have to let it set it free, and if it loves you, it will find its way back. Whoever said that was an idiot. I thought that if I broke up with him, he would realize that hiding was mistake, and come after me. But he didn't. He didn't come."

"If it makes you feel any better, Sirius drank himself to sleep that night. The only reason I got any information out of him was because he was drunk off his ass." Emmeline tried to laugh, but that only caused tears to come out of her eyes. "He truly does feel awful. And… There… um…"

"What?"

"Don't hit me okay?"

"Dear Merlin! What did you do?"

"That night, the kept telling me that he wanted to leave. That he had to go somewhere." Before that moment, Remus was talking to the wall, now he was looking straight at Emmeline. "Don't you get it? He wanted to come see you. He was trying to leave the apartment so that he could find you. Only, I wouldn't let him because of the alcohol he consumed." Emmeline's heart swelled in her chest. He wanted her, and he did try to go back to her. He wanted her. Knowing that made her heart ache with longing. She stepped off the couch, picked her pillow up, and slowly beat Remus with it. Defensively, he put his hands up to try and stop the attack, but for a girl, she hit hard.

"Hey! I thought we agreed on no hitting!" Remus cried out.

"No Lupin, you agreed on no hitting!" Emmeline said, continuously hitting her friend with the pillow. When Remus had had enough of her beating, he grabbed his own pillow and threatened to attack. Emmeline saw the pillow in his hand and challenged him, " You wouldn't dare." She tried saying this with an innocent expression, but they both knew that she was just planning her next move.

Remus lowered his pillow, making Emmeline think that she had won, but just when she was about to celebrate, he raised his arm and said, "Oh I would Potter." He took Mrs. Potter's fancy couch pillow, and beat her daughter with it. Somehow, Emmeline had fallen on the floor, and Remus was hitting her with his pillow from above. He was just about to attack again when he heard two pairs of footsteps walking down the stairs.

"What is going on you two?" Mr. Potter was standing on their stairs, wearing only his bathrobe and pajamas, with his hands on his hips. He did not look very happy to have been woken up by two screaming "adults" this late at night. Henry and Rachel Potter were normally very cheerful people, unless their adolescent daughter decides to wake them up in the middle of the night. Remus stared at the two Potters, stunned, and he had no idea what to say. "We…um... I… well…" Emmeline used Remus' distraction to her advantage and hit him smack in the face with her pillow.

"Emmeline! You play dirty!" Rachel Potter scolded her daughter.

"Well dear, she is fighting a grown man twice her size, how else is she going to win!" Henry Potter said.

"So, you're telling daughter that instead of playing fair, she should cheat to wi-" Rachel's speech was cut off by a pillow attacking her face. While in the middle of her speech, Henry had taken a pillow off of the couch, and hit her with it. "OH! WELL IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT TO PLAY I WANT REMUS ON MY TEAM!"

"FINE BECAUSE I WANT EMMELINE!"

While in the midst of this petty argument between her parents, Remus bent down to Emmeline's ear and whispered, "You're going down Potter." He got off of her, and went to join Mrs. Potter.

"Oh, you wish Lupin." As her father walked over to her, and Remus walked towards her mother, Emmeline hit Remus in the back. At some point, wands had been taken out, and curses had been thrown. Harmless ones of course, but Emmeline and her father were bent on beating the opposing team. Henry was about to send the jelly-legs jinx at his wife, when the front door burst open. A very worried looking Sirius ran in. His hair was even more wild than usual, and he was soaking wet.

"I… I didn't…. I swear… I…" Sirius wasn't making any sense. Since Emmeline was the only one not in a body bind, or in a jelly-legs jinx, she walked over to Sirius. He was standing in the doorway, with water dripping off his hair, and he had wild eyes. Emmeline shut the door behind him, grabbed his hands, and brought him towards the couch. It was like she wasn't even there; he looked right through her. "Traitor… I'll kill him… how could he… filth…" Sirius wasn't able to even speak in coherent sentences. Emmeline knelt down in front of him, and put her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. She had never seen Sirius like this before. Although he had not had the world's best childhood, he was always happy-go-lucky. Emmeline had only twice without a smile on his face. Once when his friends had left him at Hogwarts, for a reason still unknown to her, and the second when they broke up. He was making her nervous.

"Sirius, what didn't you do?" Emmeline asked him. He tried to look away from her, but she made him focus on her again. By this time she could feel her father and Remus standing behind her. Henry had his had on his daughter's shoulder, and Remus was bent down next to her. Rachel Potter was unable to move from the shock she was in because of Sirius' state.

"Traitor… he's a traitor… they saw… but… I…" Sirius, started to yell. He got off from the couch, and threw the lamp off the table. The lamp landed with a crash, smashed into a million pieces on the floor. Emmeline tried to grab his arm, but he yanked it away before she could grab him. He took the pillow that Emmeline was recently using in her pillow fight, and tore it to shreds with only his hands.

"Sirius," she said while slowly approaching him," look at me. Tell me what happened." Just as she said that, there was a loud pounding on the door. Since two out of the four Marauders were already there, and the other one was stuck at home, she only assumed that it was Peter.

"I'll get it," Rachel said, finally moving from her spot. Forgetting that Rachel was still in the room, everyone but Sirius jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. She walked to the door and opened it, but it was not Peter. It was Mad Eye. Remus, Henry, Rachel, and even Emmeline thought that Mad Eye was there for her, but Sirius knew better. It wasn't like he could even run, because no one knew about the switch. No one knew that Peter was the secret keeper, and not he. No one knew that they were illegal animagus and that Peter had turned himself into a rat to get away. All the witnesses believed that they had seen the death of Peter Pettigrew at Sirius Black's doing.

"Alastor, what are you doing here?" Henry asked.

"Mad-Eye, if you needed me, you could have just owled me. You didn't need to bring the whole auror department." Emmeline said, trying to break the tension in the room. Behind him, Moody a group of aurors behind him Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Pod more, Daedalus Daggle, and Gideon Prewett all stood in her doorway with weary expressions on their faces. The fact that the head of the Auror department and half the aurors left were at her house was not what made her sick, it was the fact that Millicent Bagnold, the Minister of Magic was standing in her doorway. That's when Emmeline realized that Mad-Eye wasn't there for her.

"What's going on?" Emmeline questioned, but it came out barely as a whisper.

"Where is he Henry?" Mad-Eye asked her father.

"Where is who Alastor?" Not Henry, but Rachel asked.

"Sirius, Sirius Black. You can't hide him. We both know that I'll find him."

"Why would we need to hide Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Moody," Gideon spoke up, "I don't think they know."

"How could they not? Haven't you guys heard the partying that's been going on?" Asked Hestia, formerly in the same year as Emmeline back at Hogwarts.

"Hestia!" shouted Daedalus, who was sporting a bruise from the raid they were at the night prior. Daedalus was Emmeline's partner for a week, but they did not end on good terms. Apparently, people didn't like it when you threw staplers at their head, so she was shocked when he was trying to protect her.

Moody spoke up, "Voldemort was defeated tonight."

"WHAT!" Remus, Emmeline, Henry and Rachel all spoke in unison. Again, this was old news to Sirius. Moody said this with such distress, that Emmeline knew something was wrong. Almost everyone she knew was dead, she thought that it was impossible for her to lose anyone else that she loved. Most of the people she knew were standing in her doorway. Except for three. James, Lily, and Harry.

"Moody, who… who killed him?" Emmeline asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer. He couldn't even look at her when he responded, "Harry." A sob escaped the throat. Her mother fell to the floor, in a mess of tears. Henry bent down to help his wife onto the couch. Remus was the only one not losing his mind, or so she thought.

He turned to face Sirius, who was hiding in the corner behind the shadows. "And why don't you seem surprised at this."

"There he is," said the Minister.

"Wait. Remus, Sirius is just as shocked at this as we are."

"Really Emmeline, because he seems to be handling this quite well."

"How, how did he find Harry?" Rachel asked.

"James and Lily Potter put their faith in the wrong person tonight. That person betrayed them to Voldemort." Everyone turned around to see Albus Dumbledore behind the crowd of aurors. Besides the labored breathing coming from Rachel Potter, the room was silent.

"Professor, what happened to them? My brother, my sister, and my nephew. Where are they now?"

"Emmeline, I say this with my deepest condolences, Harry is alive, and well, but Lily and James died protecting him." All that could be heard were the shrieks coming from Rachel. Remus walked over to Emmeline, and wrapped his arms around her, but she pushed them off. She could not stop the tears that were escaping her eyes. She turned around to look at Sirius. Now, he was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest underneath the window.

"Did you know? Did you know that they were dead?" Emmeline could not blame Sirius for their death, although she could only assume that's why half the auror department was at her house. Sirius looked up at her, his face streaked with tears.

"Are you asking me if I betrayed them?"

"You were their secret keeper! You were the only one who could reveal their position, and now they're dead Sirius! Your friends are dead!"

"Remus!" Emmeline shouted at him, " no Sirius, that's not what I asked."

"When I came here, I knew they were dead." At this point Rachel Potter had passed out on the couch.

"Miss Jones, Mr. Prewett, please help Mr. Potter bring Mrs. Potter to St. Mungo's," said Professor Dumbledore. The man Emmeline had once adored for his heart-warming smile was showing no emotion but grief. The four of them apparated to St. Mungo's leaving a mass of grief stricken people at Potter Manor.

"Why did we need the entire Auror Department in my house to tell me that my brother is dead?" Emmeline asked.

"We did not come to deliver this news, Emmeline, we just assumed that you knew." Said Millicent Bagnold.

"So then, why did you come here?" Remus whispered. Emmeline felt that she already knew the answer. What she didn't know was how bad the situation was.

"You blame him." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Who you choose to blame for your family's death is none of our concern. They picked their own secret keeper, but that is not why we're here. We are here to collect the murderer of 12 muggles, and Peter Pettigrew."

"Peter's dead too?" Remus asked, this time a little louder.

"All that's left of him is his finger," stated Daedalus.

"And you think that Sirius killed him," again, Emmeline stated.

"No, we know," said Mad-Eye. "There were witnesses, who saw Black there."

"I'm innocent. He was the traitor. He was the one who betrayed James. He was their friend and he sold them out to Voldemort!" Sirius was screaming now.

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore started, "who may I ask betrayed the Potters?"

"Peter. Peter Pettigrew betrayed them. He was their secret keeper! He sold them out to Voldemort!" Sirius was now in hysterics.

"I'm sorry Sirius, but we have to take you with us." Alastor said as calmly as he could.

"But, what if he didn't do it?" Emmeline asked. She couldn't believe that Sirius would do this to his best friends.

"Emmeline! Have you heard anything? There were witnesses." Remus was now made. He couldn't understand how Emmeline still thought Sirius was innocent. He was his best friend, but even he had to admit that all the facts pointed to Sirius. "Incase you don't remember, Sirius was their secret keeper, not Peter. Don't you think that its just too convenient that apparently James and Lily switched secret keepers, and didn't say anything to anyone? Don't you think that they would have told you? Don't you think that they would have told me?"

"Not when they thought you were the traitor."

"What?"

"Remus, I'm sorry. They thought that you were the spy." His face fell. Her heart felt like it had been pulled out of her chest. " I stood up for you! I knew that you weren't the spy. I tried to tell them that!" Emmeline was crying again, and this time she didn't hide it.

"They, they thought that I was the spy?" Now he turned to Sirius, "you were supposed to be my friend. You were supposed to trust me. You were supposed to defend me!"

Sirius laughed, "Like you are now. I should have defended you just like you' re defending me Moony?"

"You know what, you can have him Alastor. I hope you have fun in Azkaban, because you're lucky that's all you are getting. Scum like you deserves far worse." And with that statement, he stormed out of the house.

"Mad-Eye, are you sure that there is no mistake?" Emmeline was almost pleading at this point. She couldn't bear to see Sirius leave her life too.

"Emmeline, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure." Just like her mother had, Emmeline fell to the floor in tears. Dumbledore walked over to her, and knelt down next to her.

"Emmeline, right now Harry is with Hagrid. This may be your last time seeing him a while." Now he turned to Moody, "Alastor, I think now would be a good time to leave." Emmeline hugged the Headmaster while they dragged Sirius out of her house. She couldn't bear to listen to his screams while they took him away.

"Emmeline dear, if you want to see Harry, its best if we be on our way."

"Where are we going? Why isn't he coming here? We're the only family he hast left."

"Although Voldemort is indeed gone, I do not believe that it's a permanent situation. When he comes back, as I believe he will, Harry will be in danger. Since you love him, as I know you do, you know that we need to put his interests first. I am sending him to the muggle world. Growing up with the burden of fame at such a young age will not be good for him. That is why he will be going to live with Lily's sister in Surrey."

"Like hell he will!" Even Emmeline was shocked with her response. In years prior, Emmeline had heard stories from Lily about her sister. Petunia, Lily's sister, treated her like scum once she found out that Lily was a wizard. As Lily told the story, Petunia's whale of a husband was even more judgmental towards people who are out of the ordinary.

Although it had been two years since she had left Hogwarts, the Headmaster's glare still made her blush in embarrassment. "I'm sorry what did you say?"

"Sir, I agree with you, we need to keep Harry safe, but I would rather die than let him live with Lily's family. They are the worst of the worst, and that's coming from my! I've locked away death eaters!"

"Emmeline, they are the only muggle family he has, and that's where he needs to be; in the muggle world. That's the only place that will be safe for him. Now, I must tell you the rules to this agreement. I must ask you not to go looking for Harry once he is place with the Dursleys. Arabella Figg has been stationed in a house near them, and she had promised to give you monthly owls. Do we have an agreement?"

"Why sir? Why must he live with them, out of all people? I'd rather him be living with strangers."

Not being able to see Harry, Emmeline already knew, was going to be hard for her. If she wanted what was best for Harry, she was going to have to agree to these terms. All she could do was nod her head to let the Professor know her choice.

The elderly man held out his arm, and motioned for Emmeline to take it. Closing her eyes, she placed her hand on his arm, and felt the sharp tugging sensation at her navel. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the scenery had changed. She was no longer standing in her home, but at a street that consisted of an endless amount of uniform houses. Every house going down the street looked exactly the same, they had no character, or uniqueness, and they were plain. Looking around her, Emmeline noticed a street sign that read _Privet Drive. _ What caught her eye was the small tabby cat siting under the sign, looking like it was keeping watch.

She saw Dumbledore looking around, probably trying to seek the tabby cat. Emmeline slightly nudged the professor, and pointed to the cat. Dumbledore understood what she meant, and took out a golden stick from his pocket. When he clicked the stick, all the lights on the street flew towards them, and were captured in the mechanism.

"Good evening Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore said to the tabby cat. Just as she had seen hundreds of times before, the cat stood up and turned into one of her favorite teachers. Where the cat once stood, now was standing Professor McGonagall in her green robes, and large black hat. McGonagall, stared at Emmeline, and suddenly she felt self-conscious. She knew that her face must have been red and blotchy because of the crying, so she tried to wipe her face with her hands.

"I was going to ask if the rumors are true, but I know now that they are." Minerva McGonagall was not usually one to show sympathy, but right now, the sorrow Emmeline was showing broke her heart. "I'm sorry Potter." Emmeline said nothing to this.

"Albus," she said to her co-worker, "are you sure these are the people we should be leaving Harry with? These are the worst sort of muggles that are out there."

"I have made up my mind Minerva. These people are Harry's family."

"If I may ask," Emmeline piped up, "where is Harry?"

As if they timed it, a flying motorcycle appeared from the sky. Riding the charmed bike was Hagrid, who was carrying Harry on his lap. The sound coming out of the bike should have been deafening, but Emmeline assumed it had a silencing charm on it. Hagrid shut the bike off and climbed off of it with Harry in his arms.

"Here yer go Em. I meh 'summing that yer wanna carry that little lad." Emmeline shook her head, and stretched out her arms to accept Harry. He was sleeping, but there was something different about him. Pushing his hair back, Emmeline noticed the bright red lightning bolt shaped scar on his head, and gasped in shock.

"What is it Emmeline," Professor McGonagall asked. Emmeline pointed to the scar on Harry's head.

"I believe that is a sign from Lily."

"What?" Emmeline asked Dumbledore. Why would Lily have given Harry that scar, she couldn't understand?

"When Lily Potter casted herself between Voldemort and Harry tonight, she provided him with a shield. A nonvisible shield to be exact. As of now, Lily's shield is so strong that no dark wizard can touch Harry. This shield only works when he can call the place of his mother's blood his home. Petunia is the only blood relative of Lily's left, that's why he must stay here. That scar is the sign that Lily did indeed save Harry's life tonight." The wizard puled a letter out of his robes. "In this letter, I have explained everything to Petunia. I will leave it with Harry on her doorstep."

"No," said Emmeline," I want to talk to her. We're not close, but I have met Petunia a few times. I can explain the situation to her better than any letter could." Before Minerva could protest, Albus held up his hand and motioned for Emmeline to go. Talking the note from Dumbledore, Emmeline walked to the house marked number 4. Just after she knocked on the door, she instantly regretted it. This would be the last time she would be seeing Harry, for how long, she didn't know.

A large man opened the door; Emmeline could only assumed that the man was Vernon Dursley. "What the devil is going on?" he said, dressed, unfortunately for Emmeline, only in his robe. His eyes grew wide when he saw what she was wearing. Before he could shut the door, Emmeline stuck her foot in the doorway, which was a bad decision on her part. Her foot got caught between the door and the wall, and she was sure that she could hear small cracking noises, but she ignored the pain.

"My name is Emmeline. Emmeline Potter. I believe that you know my brother, James."

"We want nothing to do with your lot. My wife and I will have no part of your foolish world."

"Please," she begged him with her eyes, "I just need you to listen to me. Please. You and I both know that I wouldn't be here if I wasn't desperate." By then, Emmeline could hear someone else approaching the door. Standing next to her husband, was a blonde woman, who was severely thin. Petunia's hair was sticking up in odd directions, and there was a crying baby in her arms.

"What's going on here?" Petunia asked.

"Petunia, I need your help please."

"You look like that Potter boy, the one that my sister ran off with."

"I'm his sister. Petunia, something has happened to Lily."

Petunia shut the door, and Emmeline didn't know whether to cry or be happy. Without Petunia, Harry would not have his mother's shield, but if Petunia refused, he could stay with Emmeline. Just before she could turn around to leave, Petunia re-opened the door, disappointment flooded Emmeline's stomach.

"Come in." Petunia opened the door wider, and motioned towards the room next to the kitchen. When Emmeline stepped in, she could hear a baby screaming from upstairs. What she noticed was that there was no color filling the house. It looked sad, and dreary, very plain. Emmeline sat on the couch, with Harry on her lap, who was now beginning to wake up.

"What happened to my sister? Is she okay?"

Emmeline couldn't even look Petunia in the eyes when she told her what had happened that night. Although she had heard the story an hour ago, she still felt that it was unreal. That James and Lily would be hiding behind the couch, together they would jump out, and explain that they were jus kidding the whole time.

Barely keeping it together, Emmeline finished the story. Trying to hold Harry at the same time, Emmeline brushed the tears off of her cheeks. Because she said it out loud, her situation was beginning to feel real. Emmeline could see the streaks of tears down Petunia's face, but didn't say anything about it.

"I told her. I told her this would happen. When she said she was getting married, I told her that running away with Potter would only get herself blown up!" Emmeline could feel her blood begin to boil. If this was Petunia' way of dealing with her grief, she wasn't going to deal with it. It wasn't James' fault that Voldemort had decided to attack them. How dare she disrespect her brother.

"How dare you!" She said picking Harry up. "How dare you blame this on him. You have no idea what has been going on in our world. You have no idea what we have been going through. You don't know whom Voldemort. You don't know what a soulless killer he was. You weren't there! You abandoned you're sister!" Petunia got off the couch, and Emmeline thought that she was about to get slapped. Just when she reached her, Petunia put her arms around Emmeline and whispered, "You're right," into her ear.

Now, Petunia was crying, and not hiding it. Sucking in a few breaths, she asked Emmeline, "What do you need me to do?'

"Petunia, you know that I wouldn't have come her unless I was desperate." Petunia shook her head in agreement. "I need you to take Harry. Permanently."

"Why can't you live with him? I don't even know him."

"Don't you think that if that was an option, that I would be at home? Of course I want to keep Harry, I love him, he's my family, but he has to live with you."

"Okay."

"Please take care of him. He only has you now. Usually we only communicate through owls, but I can give you my muggle address and phone number."

"Let me get a piece of paper, and you can say goodbye to Harry." Petunia walked out of the room, leaving Emmeline alone with Harry. This would be the last time she would see him for 10 years. So many things would happen in the next 10 years, which she could not be a part of.

"Harry," she said kissing his forehead, " I love you. Please know that. I love you, so does Remus, so does Peter, so did your parents, and even Sirius. No matter what people say he loved you. I love you, and I'll see you soon. Be strong Harry. Be strong."

Petunia was back now, and handed Emmeline the piece of paper and the pen. Emmeline put Harry on her hip, and quickly scribbled down her information. Giving Harry one last kiss, she handed him to Petunia. Knowing that if she looked back, she would never be able to leave, she walked straight to the door, not turning around to see Petunia shut it, and over to Hagrid, who was standing in the street with open arms.

When it seemed like Hagrid was standing miles away instead of a few feet, she began to run to him. When she did finally reach him, she hugged him tightly.

"He'll be alright Emmeline." It was not Hagrid who said this, but Professor McGonagall who was awkwardly stroking Emmeline's back.

By the time she had calmed herself down, Hagrid's shirt was soaked with her tears. She stood on Privet Drive, staring at House number 4, which now was occupied by her one and only nephew. Slowly turning away, she apparated to Godric's Hollow to see for herself what had happened that night.

A/N So this is chapter 2. Has anyone seen Divergent yet? If you haven't I'm instructing you to do so. So like I said in the beginning, I haven't written any more of the story than what you guys are reading now. I'm waiting to see where the storytakes me. I hope you guys like it so far. Tell me what you think! (It would really make my day)


	3. The Aftermath

Wrapping her cloak tightly around her, Emmeline stepped into the light. She could barely control the sobs leaving her body, when she saw her brother's house. This house held so many good memories, and in an instant the haunting scene in front of her overshadowed them all. So many things had happened since she left this house a few hours earlier.

Currently, no one knew about Voldemort's disappearance, but tomorrow that would all change. When the sun went up tomorrow morning, people would see that only half of the Potter's house was left. They would realize that there was no threat hanging over them, and they would start asking Emmeline questions.

She didn't know whether walking up to the door would make her feel worse or not, but she took that chance anyway. Where there had once been a red door, now stood a gaping hole in the wall. Entering the house, Emmeline noticed that parts of the wall were now on the ground. Shards of glass were all over the floor. She bent down to pick up a picture that used to hang on the wall. Emmeline remembered the picture because she had taken it; it was of James, Lily, and Harry on the day he was born. Lily and Harry were looking at the camera, but James was staring down at his family; he had never looked happier.

Carefully brushing the glass of the stairs, Emmeline sat down and clutched the picture to her chest. The stories from that were now becoming physically real to her, and she couldn't handle it. Her brother was gone, her sister-in-law is gone, and now her mother is in the hospital. When her Uncle Harold died, it took her mother months to get over him. She could only imagine how long it would take her to get over her brother.

Before, the tears had come out slowly, but now, it was like a waterfall. The tears streamed down her face, and sounds that sounded like a strangled animal came out of her mouth. Her sobs overtook her body, and she crawled up the stairs, into Harry's room. There were large black marks running what was left of the wall. The only thing left untouched was Harry's bed.

The stress of that night had finally caught up to her, and clutching the photo, she fell asleep.

The sun was shining through the hole in the roof, but that's not what woke Emmeline up. Someone was walking up the stairs, but she didn't have the strength or energy to try and protect herself. Quite frankly she didn't care. From the amount of sunlight that was peering through the celling she could tell that it was already late in the day. Moody was probably furious that she ditched work, but she couldn't think of work right now.

Instead of trying to get herself out of potential danger, she waited there to see if the intruder would show himself or herself. Knowing that this could be a dangerous situation, she pulled her wand out of her robe just incase.

When the footsteps got louder, she sat up, and pointed her want at the door. It wasn't an intruder, but Remus who entered the door. He looked almost as bad as she did. His hair was wild, and his skin was sagging. "You look like hell," she said to him.

"Look who's talking." He retaliated. He knelt down next to her, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Emmeline, what did you do to your hands?" At the time, she hadn't noticed the glass, but while she crawled up the stairs, she had forgotten to clear the rest of the glass. Whatever broken pieces had been lying on the stairs, where now embedded in her hands. It didn't hurt, before Remus said anything, she didn't even know that the glass had penetrated her skin.

Before she could stop him, Remus began to slowly pick out the glass from her hands. She couldn't help but wince every time he pulled a shard out of her hands. They came out red, and bloody; the sight was making her nauseous. As an auror, she didn't do very well with blood, or gore. Remus pulled his wand out from under his robes, and performed a quick healing charm on her hands.

"You know, if you wrap them, they will heal faster." Not understanding what he meant, she looked down at her hands. Although he had healed them with magic, there were still angry red marks all over her hands. "I don't know if it's safe here. We should probably get going. There are probably people looking for you." Realizing what he was saying, she grabbed his outstretched hand, and pulled herself up.

"Remus," her voice was unsteady, "how can they be gone? How is it that only 24 hours ago, we were all hanging out, throwing food at each other, and now we are never going to be able to do that again?" He has always hated when other people were in pain, he was never good at the whole comforting thing. But Emmeline was like his family, in fact, she was better than his real family, so he did his best at comforting her.

" There are a lot of things that I don't understand in this world. One of them is why the people we love get taken away from us. So as much as I would love to answer your question, I simply can't. " She cried into his shirt as he rubbed her back. There small family had been torn apart in more ways than one. Without saying it out loud, they both knew that it would never be whole again.

"In this world," Dumbledore started, "nothing is promised to us. Not today, not tomorrow, and yesterday was given to us by chance. We do not know why certain things happen to us, only that they do, some for the good, and some for the bad. But if we only focus on the bad, nothing good will ever happen to us. How can we enjoy the great moments that we are fortunate enough to have, if we can only focus on the things that we have not been given in our lifetime. Emmeline Potter, who knows a great deal about what I am saying, wants to talk to you." Just like in the muggle world, funerals in the wizarding world were just as sad. The only difference was that instead of wearing black, they wore navy blue. A crowd of people was sitting at the graveyard in Godric's Hallow. There were people there from her Hogwarts days, and others were people she worked with, some were strangers who had heard the Potters' story and wanted to show support.

"First, I want to thank all of you for coming to day. I want you to know how much this means to my family and me. I'm sure that if they were here, James would be pulling some crazy prank right about know, but unfortunately you guys are going to have to deal with my attempt to be funny instead. Like Professor Dumbledore said, nothing in this world is promised to us. In these last five days, I've realized that. I know that the most important thing is the present. Time is something you will never get back, so make sure you are spending it the way you want to be. Don't spend your life doing things that you hate, spend your time with your family, and surround yourself with people who love you. I'm going to ask you guys to me not me, but yourselves a favor. Promise yourself that you will live your life to the fullest, because tomorrow is never promised. Thank you."

Finishing her speech, Emmeline walked back to her chair next to her parents. Rachel Potter was sobbing into her handkerchief, and Henry Potter hadn't spoken a word in the last five days. The crowd solemnly watched as Lily and James Potter were lowered into the ground. After the funeral, there was a reception at Potter Manor. It seemed like hundreds of people were inside of her house, but none of them were who Emmeline really wanted to see. Sirius. The ministry didn't even let him have a trial; he was shipped straight to Azkaban. She didn't even get to say goodbye. Not that Remus would have let her anyway; he still believed that Sirius had betrayed James and Lily.

Since that morning when she woke up at the cottage in Godric's Hallow, Remus made it very clear that he was avoiding her. Emmeline knew that he was still upset that they had thought he was the spy. That's why he had the secret in the first place, so that he wouldn't be judged for being a werewolf, and that' exactly what his **friends** did.

"Emmeline," Molly Weasley said from behind her, "why don't you go and put something more comfortable on." She was staring out the window of her bedroom, and could barely hear Molly. "Dear, I know this is hard for you. Believe me I do, but shutting yourself off from the world is not going to help." Emmeline wasn't the only one who lost her brother, Molly and Gideon lost Fabian also.

"Molly, I'm-" Emmeline was cut of by a stern voice.

"Emmeline, you must be feeling the same way right now, if you're not, you will soon. Anyway if I hear the words 'I'm sorry' one more time, I might just Avada Kedavra that person." A faint smile crossed Emmeline's lips. "Why don't I get you something else to wear, you look a tad uncomfortable."

"Its not the clothes," she said without even thinking.

Molly's motherly instincts kicked in, and she rubbed Emmeline's arm just as she would have done for any of her other kids. Grabbing her hand, Molly led Emmeline up the stairs. It was like dragging dead weight around. "Dear, you're going to have to tell me which room is yours."

Emmeline pointed to the last room at the end of the hallway. A room she hadn't been in all week, because her brother's was next door. To many memories of them were created in these rooms. Moly pulled Emmeline into the room, and left her sitting on the bed, while she got clothes out of the closet. Molly came out of the closet holding a pair of black muggle sweatpants, and a ratty Hogwarts sweatshirt.

"I'll let you change, but then promise to come back downstairs when you're ready okay?" Emmeline nodded. Molly had been acting as more of a mother to her than her own. Not that she could blame her for being upset, but that didn't mean she had to ignore Emmeline either.

Quickly changing into her new clothes, Emmeline ran a brush through her hair before walking back down the stairs. Molly was right when she said that hearing people say "I'm sorry" would tick her off. Dozens of people had gone up to her, apologizing for something that wasn't their fault. It was irritating. Accepting Mad Eye's apology was the worst for her. He clearly didn't know how to show affection, but he tried. Both of them were uncomfortable.

He reminded her that she didn't have to be in the office the next day, but work would be a good distraction for her. When one of her co-workers tried to give their apologies to her, all of a sudden, to flashes a red ran around her legs, blocking the apologies. Apparently, the Weasley twins were plying tag, and George was it. Fred grabbed onto Emmeline's legs to protect himself from his brother, while Emmeline picked George up. Without noticing his brother in the air, Fred remained unmoving. Emmeline flipped George upside down, so that he was able to tag his brother.

"Hey!" Fred yelled. "That's cheating! No fair!'

"Haha you're it! You can't catch me!"

"Boys! Leave Emmeline alone!"

Molly's shrieks could be heard from across the room. Truthfully, the boys weren't bothering her. She actually enjoyed being around them.

"Molly, honestly its fine. They're not bothering me." Poor Molly had Ginny in one arm, sucking on a bottle, and Ron in the other, tugging on her hair. Bill and Charlie had apparently joined their brothers' game of tag, and were being chased by an irate Fred. Percy was sitting on his father's lap, while he talked to Henry Potter.

"Here," Emmeline stretched out her arms, " why don't I take Ron for you, so that you can finish feeding Ginny." Molly gave her a tired smile, and handed over Ron. Henry waved his daughter over to them. He put his arm around her, and kissed the side of her face.

"How are you doing dear?"

"I've been better."

"I know. Arthur was just telling me about someone had made the toilets at the ministry sing. That fellow who first sat down must have been amused."

"Quite the opposite actually. Mad Eye was not thrilled at all."

Emmeline couldn't help but laugh. She tried to picture Moody going to the bathroom to realize that all the toilets were singing. Ron's head fell onto Emmeline's shoulder, and she could feel his heart rate slowing down. He was falling asleep.

"Why don't I take this one up to my room? You know what, if you see the rest of the Weasley gang, tell them to come up to my room. It's the last door on the left. I'm going to bring some games up there so we can play."

"We?" Henry asked.

"Dad, I can't keep my sanity level normal if I stay down here any longer."

Henry chuckled and let her pass him to get up the stairs. Emmeline trudged up the stairs, which felt like they went on forever with Ron in her arms. For such a small baby, he felt extremely heavy. Just like a joke, when Emmeline placed Ron on the bed, he sprung straight up, and began to jump up and down.

"You tricked me you little scoundrel." Emmeline picked Ron up from other his arms, and placed him on his back. She tickled him, and Ron began to scream and giggle. He began to flail around and thrash around. She didn't hear the door open, but she certainty felt it when four boys jumped onto her bed.

"Oh you buggers are going to break my bed!"

"We want to play too!" Cried Charlie.

"Do you?" All four boys shook their heads rapidly.

"Fine, it's on!"

The five of them broke out into a tickle war. Bill was making George laugh so hard that she was sure that he would pee his pants. She remembered when James would tickle her like that, and that it would never happen again. Strangely, she felt better about that now. She had finally come to piece with the idea that her brother might not physically be living, but he was in her heart, and for now, that was good enough for her.

The next thing she knew, Arthur was shaking her awake. Somehow, they must have all fallen asleep. Ron was placed on her stomach, Charlie's head was on her shoulder and Bill was resting his head oh her legs. Fred and George were lying next to each other at the foot of the bed. Emmeline sat up, and stretched her arms above her head while letting out a large yawn.

"Sorry Arthur, I guess we were having too much fun."

Arthur laughed, " I hope they didn't wear you out too much."

"No, they were great. It feels good to laugh again."

"I'm glad they were the ones to bring that pretty smile back to your face. You look better with a smile."

Slowly, she scooped Ron up into her arms; Arthur had already gotten Bill and Charlie up, now it was just the twins left. Bill and Charlie showed their brothers no mercy when they both jumped on top of Fred and George. The twins screamed, and simultaneously rolled out of the bed onto the floor. Sleepily, George wiped the sleep out of his eyes, while Fred crawled around on the floor trying to get back up.

Arthur picked up Fred, and Bill helped George off of the floor. Ron must have been having a bad dream because he began to thrash around in Emmeline's arms. She sat back down on the bad, and began to rub Ron's back. She smoothed down her hair and rocked him back and forth. A sound, one that could only belong to a crying infant, filled the entire house. Ron, who was now awake, cried as loud as he could, probably startling the guests left downstairs.

Molly entered the bedroom as soon as Emmeline had calmed Ron down. She had gotten him to go back to sleep, and he looked peaceful.

"Did you plan this? Only showing up once I had already gotten him to go back to sleep."

Molly laughed in the doorway, "Emmeline that plan is far too smart for me to come up with." Molly reached out to take her son from Emmeline, and she gladly handed Ron over to his mother. "You can stop hiding now, almost everyone has cleared out now. Only Dumbledore and Minerva are left downstairs."

"Alright, I'll be down there in a bit. Don't leave without letting me say goodbye."

Molly left the room, and Emmeline sat back down on her bed, staring up at the celling. The events of the last few months had left her feeling exhausted. Someone could only handle so much physical exhaustion before they collapse. Sluggishly pushing herself off of the bed, Emmeline stood up, and walked towards the hallway.

It was like the door represented all of her fears. Once she opened his bedroom door, it would all be real. But it was. It was real. There was no changing that. Her brother was dead, but entering his room was the final Band-Aid she had to rip off. As soon as she put her hand on the door handle, she pulled it back. Although it was all in her mind, it felt like she had just put her hands on hot coals. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door with all of her remaining strength.

It looked exactly the same as it had last week. A week ago, her brother was alive. She had a family, one that wasn't falling apart. And she was happy, as happy as you could get during a war. The entire second floor was silent; the only noises to be heard were coming from downstairs.

Emmeline walked into James' room, and stared at the normalcy and familiarity of it. Tentatively, she ran her hands over his bed, then his desk. Scattered all over the desk were papers with pranks on them. Sirius and James had left them there from their prank war. Emmeline could hear her mother softly calling her from the stairs, so she walked to the doorway.

"Goodbye James," she said, barely audible.

For the second time in three weeks, Emmeline was called into Moody's office. Work was the only thing keeping Emmeline's life from falling apart even more. Since the funeral, her mother had not left her bedroom. The couch had been occupied by a shadow of her father; things had never been worse. Work was her sanctuary, her salvation from the real world. Instead of fighting off dark wizards, the auror department was now trying to locate them. The wizarding community would never be safe until all dark wizards were captured.

Emmeline walked into Moody's office aggravated. Instead of doing her job, she was being treated like a child who just got called into the Headmaster's office. She was too proud to admit that not all her anger was caused by Mad Eye's inconvenient meeting. Although it was selfish, she was mad at her parents. Upset, because they refused to see that they weren't the only ones in pain, that she was hurting too. She was mad at them for ignoring her, for closing her out, and it was a selfish anger that burned in the pit of her stomach. Anger and revenge. She wanted revenge on the people who caused her life to be such a living hell.

"What? Why am I here?" She practically screamed at the Head Auror. Neither of them flinched when the door slammed behind her, and they were now engrossed in a stare off.

Moody looks about ten year older than he did when the war started. Who can blame him? Everyone looked to him to defeat Voldemort; they did the same when people died.

"Is that how you talk to your life long hero," he asked her with what she thought was a smile.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She was practically snarling. She had a job to do, and he was joking around. Just when Emmeline was about to lose it on Moody, she noticed a blob of color sitting in the chair next to his desk. A reporter sat with a smile on her face, and the floating quill next to her head was eagerly writing on the paper. The woman looked more like a clown than a reporter, hanging on to every word that had been exchanged between Emmeline and Moody in her frilly bright green robes.

"Can I help you with something?" Emmeline could read people just as well as she could read books. This woman was going to be a pain in her ass.

"Well," she shrilled in a voice that pierced Emmeline's ears. She swore that she saw Moody flinch. "My name is Rita Skeeter, and I write for the Daily Prophet. Our readers are very intrigued with your family at the moment."

"Are they now?" Emmeline asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but she knew that the reporter hadn't caught on.

"Quite. Our editor has sent me here to do an interview on you and your family."

"Well, my parents sure as hell won't talk to you, and I'm not to thrilled on the idea either. Considering Moody personally asked to talk to me, which he knows I hate, I'm guessing I have no choice but to talk to you."

"Darling," Mad Eye could be annoying when he tried. "You catch on pretty quickly."

She glared at him, but took the seat next to Rita Skeeter.

"You don't mind if I use a quick quotes quill, do you darling?" Emmeline shook her head; _whatever gets this over as soon as possible_ she thought. "Marvelous, let's get started. The honor of killing the darkest wizard to have ever live, goes to your family how does that feel?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it an honor. He was a wizard, a powerful one, but a wizard just like the rest of us. And he's not dead." Emmeline could hear Mad Eye mumbling her name under his breath.

"You think that he's still alive."

"I'll believe he's gone," Emmeline said, "when his followers believe that he's gone. Right now they don't. They still believe that he is coming back, therefore the auror department will not be resting."

"How about we go to the next question," Mad Eye suggested. Although, it sounded more like he was commanding her than suggesting an idea. Rita huffed, but then started on the next question.

"The entire wizarding world has been wondering this, and I must admit that I have been curious myself. Why is it that Dumbledore trusted a family of muggles with our world's "savior", more than he trusted you and your family?" Emmeline couldn't hide the scowl on her face.

"He didn't trust them more. Harry is safer there, away from our world. Next. Question. " Emmeline was practically growling at the blonde.

"At your Hogwarts days, you and your brother were quite close to Sirius Black. How do you feel that he is now a notorious mass murderer?" Emmeline was not expecting this, and she didn't have an answer. How did she feel? She could not even answer the question to herself.

"Next question."

"But you didn't answ-"

"I said next question."

"Fine," she huffed. " You're parents haven't been seen since your brother's funeral. Why are they hiding out?"

"Well as you can imagine, my brother and sister-in-law's deaths were hard for them to cope with. Then, of course, Harry living in the muggle world is another thing they are struggling with. They're not hiding, they are just trying to handle the situation as best as they can."

"Considering that you have been through 12 different partners in the last year, many readers have been wondering if you are reliable. Or are you just as crazy as the Longbottom's?"

Mad Eye immediately knew that the reporter would be cursed into oblivion if she didn't leave his office soon. Emmeline's anger was radiating off of her body, she was sure the people on the next floor could feel it. Only two days ago, Emmeline had found out that Frank and Alice's condition was irreversible, and now Rita Skeeter was throwing it in her face. Losing her family wasn't enough. No, the wizarding world had to throw it in her face that not only did she lose her family, but she lost her friends too.

"I think we're done here." Emmeline stated with no emotion.

"But I still have many more questions." The reporter retaliated in protest. She was not going to leave without a story.

"Do you think that I care? There are dark wizards who need to rot in jail. Sitting here talking to you so you can write an idiotic story is not going to accomplish this. So like I said before we're done." Dumbfounded, Rita could only stare at Emmeline, mouth opened wide.

"Incase I wasn't clear enough GET OUT!" The startled journalist didn't need to be told twice. Quickly grabbing what she had brought with her, Rita nodded her head towards the Head Auror, and walked out of the room.

"You handled that much better than I expected. Honestly, I didn't think you were going to answer a single question."

Despite her bad mood, Emmeline flashed a smile in his direction. " Oh shut it. It took everything I had not to strangle that thoughtless idiot. Anyway, I'm assuming that she was not the only reason you called me in here."

"You know how Rita said you've gone through 12 partners since James?" Emmeline nodded, not understanding why he was bringing this up. "Well make it 13." Mad Eye signed, knowing that Emmeline was not going to be pleased.

"WHAT! Hugo quit?" Emmeline was shouting. She had been nothing but nice to Hugo, well as nice as he could get.

"No, he's just not your partner. Apparently, he couldn't deal with your methods anymore."

"My methods? What's wrong with the way I do my job?"

"To me, absolutely nothing, but to a regular wizard, and we both know that the two of us aren't exactly normal, he values his life. Your methods are very effective, but Hugo says that he would rather be alive than dead."

"That prat!"

"No need to worry, you can go back to work right away. I found a new partner for you."

Emmeline didn't even have a chance to ask who it was. Before the words could escape her mouth, Gideon Prewett was leaning against Mood's doorframe.

"No! No way am I working with him!" The two aurors had gone to school together, Gideon was a year above Emmeline, but he always teased her. Somehow they were always fighting, and their fights led to curses and hexes being shot at each other. The last few years that they had been working in the auror department together, they were civil to each other, but not exactly friendly.

"Sweetie, you have no choice. Apparently I'm the only one willing to put up with your work ethics." He was grinning while explaining this to her. She could tell that Gideon was enjoying every second of this.

"Moody, there has to be someone else. Anyone else. I'll even take Trent."

"Emmeline, you know that he's not fully an auror yet. He's not allowed on missions. Sorry, but you two are partners. Also, I would suggest you learn to get along with him Emmeline, because he's the last person who will put up with being your partner. Lucius Malfoy was released from Azkaban this morning. I want you two posted outside of his house. We have reason to believe that he will be hiding dark wizards inside."

"What? Why the bloody hell was he released? Everyone knows that he was one of the biggest death eaters alive!" Emmeline knew why Gideon was so upset. Not only was Lucius Malfoy one of Voldemort's most loyal flowers, but he also killed Fabian.

"Trust me, I want him to rot in hell as much as you do. But, unfortunately for us, he's got status and power. He has quite the influence on the Ministry. I need you two posted there for the rest of the day, I'll send replacements tonight."

"Fine." Emmeline could tell that Gideon did not like the situation, so she answered before he could refuse. "Let's go." The two of them walked out of Moody's office together, and Emmeline could feel the stares directed her way. One person even wolf whistled at Gideon.

"You know, if this many people think I'm lucky to work with you, they should have taken the job." Gideon was mumbling under his breath. "Let's just get out of here." Together, they apparated to a cottage half a mile away from Malfoy Manor. Trudging through the muddy field and the rain, they arrived at Malfoy Manner 15 minutes later. There was a collection of few trees 30 feet away that gave them a nice view of the house. Emmeline pointed this out to Gideon and they walked over to the trees. Quickly whipping out her wand, and cleaning both of them off, Emmeline decided that they needed a plan of action.

"What's the plan?" Emmeline asked.

"I don't think that Death Eaters are stupid enough to walk right through the door. Let's just watch today and we can think of a plan tomorrow."

For the next hour, they sat in silence. Nothing unusual seemed to be happening. There was one question that was stuck in Emmeline's mind, but she didn't know how to ask it.

"Will you just ask the question already, you're driving me crazy," Gideon whispered/shouted at her.

"How did you know that I have a question?"

"You've been opening and closing your mouth for the last five minutes. You look like a fish," he smiled at her.

"Alright. Note taken. Why did you volunteer to be my partner? We hate each other."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. I took the job because I know how it feels."

"You know how what feels?"

"To lose your partner, your other half."

"I'm not married you git."

"I know. I'm talking about James. For me it was Fabian. I know what it feels like to lose the person who knows all of your secrets, the person who knew you inside out. Fabian always had my back, but I didn't have his. I know what it's like to try so hard to put yourself back together, but it's never the same. Your never the same person you were before you lost your other half."

At this point, tears were running down Emmeline's face. Gideon has exactly described what James was to her. Her other half. She threw her hand over her mouth to try and stifle the sobs they _were_ on a stakeout. Gideon sat next to her awkwardly, not knowing how to comfort her. Multiple times he tried to put his hands on her back like he has seen people do before, but stopped himself midway.

"You don't have to comfort me Gideon. I'm a big girl."

Startled, Gideon responded, " How did you know that I wanted to comfort you?"

"I'm naturally brilliant."

"No, really."

"I do have eyes. I saw you trying to put your hands near me then jerk them away. It looks like you're having a seizure." He started to laugh. Emmeline quickly followed him. This was the first time Gideon had actually laughed in months.

"It feels good doesn't it?" Emmeline asked. Seeing Gideon's confusion, she continued. "Laughing. It feels good to laugh again. Like there is a chance that eventually, we'll get better."

He gave her a weak smile, "Yeah, it does."

The next ten hours passed by silently. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it was comfortable. They sat in front of the Malfoy House until the sun went down and many hours past that. The twig cracking behind them caused the two aurors to pull out their wands. Emmeline silently put defensive spells around herself and Gideon.

Emmeline looked over at Gideon, and he nodded back at her.

"The fate of Frank and Alice's son lies with…"

"The mad women with the bird on her head." Emmeline Vance slowly came out of the shadows of the trees along with Hugo Mills.

"What are you doing here?" Emmeline couldn't help but sneer at Hugo.

"Moody…um… Moody told us to…" he babbled on.

"Moody sent us here as replacements." Emmeline stated strongly, unlike the babbling baboon next to her.

Gideon could see Emmeline about to make a snappy remark, but quickly stopped her.

"Thanks. There hasn't been any movement since we've been here."

"Okay, well we'll notify you guys if we see anything." Hugo said.

"Emmeline, lets get out of here." Gideon said while grabbing her hand.

A/N

I am SOOOOO sorry that I haven't posted in three months. Its been crazy. I had trimesters then I went on vacation now I'm sick and I'm really sorry that this is also a short chapter. I promise to work harder to post sooner. Has anyone seen The Amazing Spiderman 2? I love Andrew Garfield, he's kinda gorgeous, and I love Emma Stone. Anyway a big thanks to **xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **for being my first reviewer!


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